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What’s Your Usage? You Can Read It Yourself.

Our meter reading crews at AUB read nearly 30,000 meters every month, rain or shine. At AUB we encourage customers to read their meters regularly. All meters, even on inactive accoutns, are read monthly. Consumption is determined by subtracting the previous month’s reading from the current month’s reading. Below are examples of meter types used at AUB, with explanatory notes for each. Find the type meters you have and give it a go!


HOW TO READ YOUR ELECTRIC METER

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Your electric meter can easily be read if you understand some basic rules. Each of the five dials represent one digit of the present reading. As you can see, the dials move both clockwise and counter-clockwise. Reading left to right across the dials, record the smaller of the two figures on either side of the pointer.

 

If you cannot tell if the hand is past a number or not, simply look at the dial to the right. If that pointer has not passed zero, write down the smaller number.
 
To practice, go outside your home or business and record the readings for several days in a row. By subtracting yesterday’s reading from today’s reading, you can get a feel for how many kilowatt hours you use each day.

 

HOW TO READ YOUR GAS METER

Your gas meter measures the amount of cubic feet of natural gas you use in a given month. The meter measures gas used by counting the filling and emptying of compartments inside the meter. Though meters vary in size and shape, they all record gas use in the same basic way. Well-maintained gas meters have proved to be over 99 percent accurate.

 

Most residential gas meters operate like the odometer on your car. Read the numbers left to right. The gas meter shown above left, for example, reads 1396.

 

Dial meters (below right) have five or six dials depending upon the model of meter. You will notice that the numbers will go clockwise on some dials, but counterclockwise on other dials. Read the top four dials from left to right. If the pointer is in between two numbers, record the smaller number. The meter shown below reads 5687.

         

Subtract the previous reading from the current reading to find out how many cubic feet you used.

 

HOW TO READ YOUR WATER METER

Your water meter is read monthly, and your consumption is determined by subtracting the previous month’s reading from the current month’s reading. Water meters are highly accurate and dependable for water consumption evaluation.

 

You will notice that your residential water meter has only one dial. The dial has a sweep hand which measures water usage in gallons. The meter operates like the odometer in your car. On the example meter to the left, the meter reads 0385940. Since the odometer registers in hundreds of gallons you do not record the last two numbers. (The last number is a permanent number and the next dial registers tenths.) The remaining dials register the actual (in hundreds) water used. The water bill would show a reading of 3859.

 

Subtract the previous reading from the new reading and you will know how many hundreds of gallons of water you have used.